


Lost Son

by Chippani



Series: Finding Family in Unexpected Places [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And the author said "let there be romance", Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), F/M, First few chapters focus on romance, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Human Krolia (Voltron), Humans Are Weird, Keith's dad's name is Relas btw, Matt is just a child, Relas is an adorable bean, Tags Are Hard, The Holts make a surprise appearance, because these two are adorable, but it does eventually switch to keith, et did not prepare Krolia for this, he just has to. You know. Exist first, in case you missed that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-02-19 14:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22879180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chippani/pseuds/Chippani
Summary: The story of how Keith came to be, and a bit of his life among the Blade of Marmora with his Galra father.Basically, an au where Krolia and Keith's father get swapped and Keith looks more galra than human.
Relationships: Keith & Keith's Father (Voltron), Keith & Krolia (Voltron), Keith's Father/Krolia (Voltron)
Series: Finding Family in Unexpected Places [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644634
Comments: 10
Kudos: 89
Collections: Humans Are Space Orcs





	1. It all started with a crash...

**Author's Note:**

> I actually went and did it.  
> I'll probably make another story exploring Shiro and Krolia's background eventually.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krolia saves an alien in the desert and gets more than she could have ever imagined.  
> Then again  
> She didn't imagine she'd ever 1) see an alien 2) save said alien from his crashed ship or 3) live with said alien while he tried to find a way home.
> 
> E.T. did not prepare her for any of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact: Krolia is emotionally attatched to a roomba she got from her grandmother.  
> Also fact: Relas (Keith's dad) thinks it's weird that she is so emotionally attatched.
> 
> This will make more sense after you read.

Relas wasn't sure what he was expecting as he guided his fighter towards the backwater planet at the outskirts of the explored universe. Yet their sensors went off, indicating the presence of the blue lion. His heart all but stopped in his chest when the soft beep sounded. The problem now would be to deal with the other fighter, come up with a convincing story, and report back to Kolivan about his discovery.

"Can you believe it, Relas? We actually found it! The emperor will be so pleased! We may even get promoted to commanders!" His "partner's" voice came through the coms. When he took to long to reply, he spoke again. "Relas? Are you there?"

It had to be then. Relas pulled his fighter back and aimed his weapons at the other fighter. "Oh, is that how it is?! Want the glory all for yourself? Or are you a traitor to your empire?!" The other growled.

"Vrepit sa." Relas replied before opening fire.

He knew he took too long to betray the other, but it never felt completely okay to not give his enemy a fighting chance. His first shot missed as his enemy dodged out of the way. The second shot only grazed the other fighter as they flew around each other.

His fighter got hit with a well aimed shot before he finally hit the fule tanks on the other fighter. He took joy in the explosion that took place as his fighter started to fall towards the blue planet below. If he were to die then, he'd die knowing that the blue lion was safe for another day.

* * *

Except he didn't die. He remained conscious long enough to watch some sort of bladed weapon break open the hatch and a figure stand before him. Faintly, he thought about how much their shape reminded him of an altean. Then it all faded to black.

When he came to again, the air around him was impossibly hot and dry. His entire body was sore from the crash, as was to be expected. The unexpected part was the pillowy surface beneath him and the thin fabric draped over most of his body. There was an odd combination of scents assaulting his nose as well. It was honestly quite dizzying.

Rather than continue to lay there, staring up at the plain white ceiling, he sat up slowly. The bedding beneath him creaked softly with the shift in weight and his eyes scanned the room. Two doors, one open to what he assumed to be a closet, the other closed. One window with thin white curtains. The walls were all covered in a green stripe pattern with one exception. That wall was covered with a depiction of a desert as the sun was low on the horizon. The scene was only interrupted by a low dresser, one drawr still slightly open with fabric hanging out.

There was a second dresser with a mirror behind it against another wall. This one had a mess of objects all over the top. Some plastic containers, a collection of socks, a brush. Nothing too special of note.

His eyes finally landed on the table next to him, a glass of liquid waiting for him with four small, red tablets next to it. Lifting the glass to his nose, he smelled nothing. There was a chance it could be deadly, but he doubted whatever native had brought him inside would be trying to harm him further. Not yet at least.

He took a hesitant sip, coming to the conclusion that his saviour had provided him with water. As for the tablets? He wouldn't be touching those.

The floorboards creaked under his feet as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He held still for a moment, listening for any activity. He moved carefully to the window when he was met with silence.

The world outside was impossibly bright, but appeared to be a desert similar to the one painted on the wall. Why the native would have painted the landscape on the wall, he'd probably never know but it didn't matter.

A few more careful steps and he was at the door, pulling it open slowly and glancing around. He could hear something like a cleaning bot approaching him, but he didn't see it. Not until it bumped into his foot and beeped loudly at him. He took a few startled steps away from the small, round bot as it turned and moved so it would be more in the center of the door before it entered the room. He watched it travel along until it hit an abandoned shoe on the floor and beeped again.

Shaking his head, he turned and walked out of the room. There were three more rooms he could check before moving to the large open room at the end of the corridor.

So he explored the small house he was in. He has to keep bending down to enter doors, and his head was closer to the ceiling than he'd like. Uncomfortably close. Two of the other rooms were similar to the one he'd just left, only smaller. The third was the smallest and he assumed it was the lavatory based on the contents. The rest of the house had nothing special to note about it. His blaster was nowhere to be found, but his knife was on a low table in the main room.

He'd only just picked it up when he heard the rumbling of an approaching vehicle outside. Thinking fast, he ducked into the nearest closet. It was cramped and he had to sit on the floor just to fit comfortably with the cleaning supplies, but he could see the door from where he was, so he wasn't complaining.

The rumbling stopped and he heard a faint voice as the person left their vehicle. They took a bit longer to approach the door before swinging it open and pulling their keys from the lock. There was a bag in their other hand that he could see as they put their keys in the nearby table. He couldn't see much from his hiding place, which was annoying, but their voice was distinctly female.

 _"またね。"_ she said before reaching up to touch something. The door remained open as she moved to the kitchen area and out of his sight. _"Ugh. Why can't she just leave me alone already? 'When am I getting grandbabies? When are you getting married?' When I damn well please that's when."_

She sounded annoyed. He didn't understand a word she said, but the tone was definitely annoyed. At the very least, it sounded like the natives would be able to speak altean or common if they learned. Galran was pretty much off the table. Not that he cared.

She exited the house again for a moment, returning with more stuff before closing the door. He could hear her moving things around in the kitchen, so he assumed she'd gone to buy nutrients of some kind.

The couch creaked as she flopped onto the couch. _"Don't I have enough on my plate with the garrison and the alien in my... Broom closet? When did he..."_ she was silent for a moment before calling louder. _"Hey! What are you doing in there?"_

He froze. Could she have already noticed him? He sure hoped not.

Alas, she pulled the door open after another moment of silence passed. Her relaxed posture and quirked brow caught his eye as he took in her appearance. Black boots covered her feet, with blue pants over her legs, the ends cuffed to hover slightly over the shoes. A light colored shirt without sleeves covered her torso, hanging only slightly loose to show her gently curved form. Her skin was on the pale side with faint scars here and there. Her eyes were dark with white sclera and her hair was a mess of short, black hair on top of a lighter red color. _"Come on, get out of there. You look like a giant child playing hide and seek. Very poorly I might add."_ She stepped out of his way and gestured from the closet to the rest of the room with one sweeping motion.

He got the message and got out, embarrassed by how easily she found him, though trying not to let it show in his face. She made a strange sound as he stood at his full height and he turned his eyes on her again.

Her cheeks were red and her eyebrows nearly disappeared under her hair. _"Fuck you're tall. I mean, I saw that you were when I dragged you in but... Fuck, you must be close to 8 feet if your that close to the ceiling."_

He blinked at her. "What?"

They were both silent for a beat. _"Right. Alien. You wouldn't know English or Japanese."_ She muttered, running a hand through her hair. _"Shit... I guess I could let you learn it through some programs on my tablet... But how to explain that to you?"_

She tapped her chin while she thought, kicking the door to the closet closed. Relas decided to watch her for a moment. Perhaps he could...

"Relas."

 _"Huh?"_ She looked at him.

He patted his chest. "Relas." He said again. "It's my name. I'm trying to communicate with you." He spoke slowly and carefully, trying to use simple gestures to help her understand.

 _"Relas? Wh- oh!"_ She slapped her forehead. _"Right, I'm an idiot. That's your name. So you're Relas. Well, I'm Krolia."_ For the last part, she'd pointed to him when she said his name, then to herself. She repeated the last word. _Krolia._ Her name.

They both smiled. They could make this work.

* * *

He was getting better at understanding everything. English, as Krolia called it, wasn't as hard to learn as he feared. And she'd taken to commen fairly quickly. They were able to communicate, though it was still quite limited.

She explained needing to leave for her job during the movement and he worked on learning more about Earth and it's natives. The small data pad she'd given him was a lot of help. It wasn't as advanced as Galra tech, but there was a world of information readily available to him. 

It only took two weeks for him to figure out how this "Google" worked. Once he had that figured out, everything else came much more easily, though some things he learned were quite surprising. Like, humans could last days without water and that getting attatched to objects and robots was normal for them and his new companion wasn't insane for apologizing to the cleaning bot whenever it bumped into her. Also, the cleaning bot was something called a "roomba" that she named Bepis.

He still couldn't figure out what that meant, and "googling" it only brought up strange articles from quite some time ago. None of which properly explained anything.

At the moment, he was trying to piece together a sensor so he could find the blue lion. It wasn't going very well. The technology he could use was very limited, and he couldn't take apart anything Krolia had deemed "off limits". (This included Bepis. She was very protective of her cleaning bot.) She had gotten him a radio to take apart but he was afraid it didn't have all the components he needed.

He heard her truck pull up outside and barely gave it a second thought. The door opened and he didn't even glance her way. "I thought you were working late." He was proud of how naturally the words came to him.

"They let me off early." She said. Then she shoved him to lean back on the couch and laid across his lap.

He knew humans were touchy, Krolia displayed as much by having the constant need to touch him while they were in close proximity, even leaning against him when tired, but this was new territory. His brain almost seemed to stop working, and his hands hovered over her back. Her chin was resting on her crossed arms and her ankles rested on the arm of the couch. She huffed softly, but made no effort to move.

Relas started looking around, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. Krolia shifted to look at him. "You're cute when you're flustered." She said, patting his cheek. Then she returned to her previous position. Slowly, he lowered his arms to rest on her back. After getting no reaction, he huffed softly and returned his attention to the half finished device in his hands.

 _Humans,_ he concluded, _are very strange._


	2. An altean, a human and a galra walk into a cave...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relas takes Krolia to find the blue lion and discovers he may not be humanities first contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna breeze through some of this.  
> I'm having fun.

Relas wasn't sure what had Krolia upset, but judging by the way she threw her favorite pan into the sink, it was certainly something. He knew he shouldn't be afraid of her either, after all, he could easily deal with any human to cause him problems without a weapon of any kind. That didn't stop him from tensing up and trying to laser focus on the sensor as she walked into the room. He was acting like a kit that just witnessed two elders get into an argument. It was dumb.

And yet...

Krolia gently took the sensor from his hands and set it on the desk. He swallowed thickly and glanced up at her. Her expression was mostly blank, but her lips were pursed and her brows were slightly furrowed.

Without a word, she slipped one leg over to the other side of his, then sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his chest. He blinked before slowly moving his arms to hold her. He knew just how stiff his movements were, he hadn't gotten better about it after all the times Krolia hugged him. Hugging was reserved for your pack, which was pretty different from humans.

"Quiznaking bitch... She knew I was looking forward to the mission." She muttered to herself, switching her tone to a mocking one, " _but I_ need _to go. My kids aren't home anymore and it's the opportunity of a lifetime._ Not my fault you had kids, Brenda."

He knew better than to say anything yet, but boy was he confused. "Mission?"

"Yeah... They wanted to send a team out to Mars. Help with the colonization project." She sighed and turned her head to burry her nose in his chest. "I've wanted to go to space my whole life. Everyone at the garrison knows that. And now, when I'm finally eligible, they all decided to sign up at the same time. And fucking Brenda has been sleeping with the director so of fucking course she gets to go."

Relas frowned and rubbed her back. This was new information. Sure, she'd mentioned her fascination with space a few times, but to be brought to tears by someone keeping her from going? She sniffled and squeezed him lightly. His ears fell back and his chest felt tight. Reasonably, it shouldn't hurt him that she was so upset, but it did. He even felt the urge to nuzzle her and purr.

 _Why don't I?_ He thought, _she probably wouldn't mind, might even like it._

The deep rumble started in his chest and he rubbed his cheek on the top of her head. Her hands loosened on his shirt and she slowly relaxed. Neither one moved much for several ticks. It was quiet besides the ambient sounds of the desert at night. 

"You can purr?"

His cheeks warmed slightly. "If it makes you uncomfortable-"

"No. I... I like it." She turned her head, pressing her ear to his chest. He was a bit self conscious, but it was too late to stop purring. If anything, he started purring louder. He'd lost complete control of it. Instead of being even more embarrassed by it, he chanced a peek at Krolia's face. Her eyes met his and she smiled softly. "Thank you."

He tried to say something, to respond in any way. Instead he just felt his cheeks get warmer and his tongue refused to cooperate. Krolia shut her eyes and nuzzled him. _Oh. Oh no._

* * *

"Krolia! Krolia, wake up!" Relas knocked relentlessly on her bedroom door until it swung open. She glared at him, bleary eyed. "Good you're-"

He stopped. "You're in your undergarments..." Humans seemed to not like seeing each other, or being seen, in their undergarments unless it was an intimate setting. Which he found odd considering their swimwear. Still, he felt like he should at least acknowledge it. Krolia's frown deepened.

"Well clearly I can't sleep in the buff with you around." She growled. "It's 3am, Relas. Why, in the name of all that is holy, are you waking me up? I thought we agreed that from midnight to 5, we sleep, or at least stay in our rooms."

"Yes, I know, but I was working on the sensor and I think I finally got it to work." She blinked at him. "I thought you'd like to come with me."

She sighed and turned around, going over to her dresser and pulling out a pair of pants. "Just let me get dressed."

He nodded and waited in the living room for her. The sensor was already indicating what direction they would need to go in. It could take a long time. He wasn't sure how long exactly, but they probably wouldn't want to walk.

The floorboards creaked as Krolia walked back into the room. He turned to ask her if they could take her truck, but the question ran away and left his mind blank. She was wearing dark pants and a black shirt, topped with a cropped, red, yellow and white jacket that was a couple sizes too big so she had to roll up the sleeves. Rather than cuff her pants, she had them tucked into her boots. "You ready to go, big guy?"

It took him longer than it should have to register that she said anything. "What? Oh, right. Yeah. Um." He looked at the sensor in his hands. "It is a bit of a walk though, so I was wondering-"

"We'll take my hoverbike then. Come on." She turned and walked out the door.

"Your what?"

He followed her outside and watched her open her shed. He'd yet to actually look in there himself, having put so much of his own time and energy into building the sensor. He'd almost forgotten it existed. Yet there it stood as Krolia turned on her hoverbike and walked it out.

"I really should get a hovercraft to replace it, since this one is getting pretty old, but so long as it still works." She smiled at him and pulled herself onto it. "Hop on."

She didn't need to tell him twice. Once he was on and secure, they took off. It wasn't nearly as fast as flying, and he had to fold his ears back due to the wind, but it felt amazing. He could almost forget what they were setting out to do. Krolia certainly seemed to as she cheered as loud as she could.

 _Humans,_ Relas decided, _are very interesting._ "We need to head that way!" He shouted over the wind and pointed. She adjusted accordingly.

They actually made great time, but they had to get off the bike. There was a cave they had to enter, but it was too narrow for the bike. That seemed to upset Krolia a bit. Like Bepis, she must have had an emotional connection to it. He wouldn't have been surprised. It seemed to be an entirely human quality ~~and it was adorable.~~

They entered the cave and his ears perked up. He could hear running water. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear wha... Oh!" They smiled at each other before following the sound. Krolia probably would have gotten lost if it weren't for him. Once they found it, they followed the river.

Eventually, the cave opened up to a large cavern lit by the blue particle barrier around the blue lion. Relas paused to stare, eyes wide and ears perked.

"Whoa... What is it?" Krolia breathed next to him.

"The blue lion of Voltron."

"Voltron?"

"The reason I'm here." He said, stepping forward. He didn't see how Krolia's face fell. Nor did he see the figure hiding just feet away. At least, not until it was too late.

A rope made of blue light wrapped itself around his torso and he felt weightless for the moment he was pulled back. Krolia cried out and the figure dashed out to strike him.

He rolled out of the way and slipped free of the rope, watching it reshape into a blaster. He just barely dodged a few shots before he unsheathed his dagger. He activated the blade, not waiting for it to fully expand before he charged at the shooter. They easily dodged his initial swing while their blaster changed to a similar blade.

Relas growled as his blade was blocked. Their eyes met and he froze. "Altean?"

"Relas!"

He glanced over at Krolia. The altean took the opportunity and kicked him away, hard. He fell back and smacked a stalagmite, knocking the wind out of him. Everything that came after happened so fast. Krolia picking up his blade and coming to his defense. The altean swinging and hitting the blade. The scent of blood filling the air.

The altean man looked surprised as Relas leapt to his feet. "Krolia! You're hurt!" His ears fell and he reached out, unsure of what to actually do.

"Stay behind me, Relas." She ordered, staring down the altean. The man put his weapon away and raised his hands in surrender.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, but that creature you're with-"

"Hasn't done anything to you." Her grip tightened.

"Krolia, stand down." She looked up at Relas finally. "You don't know what's happening here-"

"Then explain it to me!" She shouted. Tears were welling up in her eyes. "You haven't told me anything to explain why this weirdo is attacking you, or what we're doing here, o-or what Voltron is-"

He gently cupped her unharmed cheek. "Okay. But first you have to give me back the sword. I'll explain everything."

She hesitated, eyes searching his face for a sign. Then her shoulders slumped and she handed the blade back shakily. He took it back and deactivated it, guiding her to sit next to the pool of water the lion sat in. The altean watched him as he dug through her pockets for the napkins she always had. Cloth would work better, but he'd take what he could get.

Dipping a few into the water before gently cleaning the wound, he started. "It's a bit of a long story. Starting 10,000 years ago... My people's emperor, Zarkon, died and came back to life.

"King Alfor of Altea used Voltron to destroy our homeworld, preventing a catastrophe, and that angered him. He not only lost his place as the leader of Voltron, but his homeworld and his wife, Honnerva. So a war began." Krolia looked confused. The altean decided to speak up.

"You'll have to explain better than that, galra. The galra homeworld hosted a rift between realities, corruption spilling into our universe. It corrupted Zarkon and Honnerva, nearly leading to the death of all their people. My king, Alfor, evacuated the planet and used Voltron with the help of a new paladin to destroy the rift which resulted in a majority of the planet being destroyed.

"When Zarkon came back, he started the war out of rage and killed the former paladins, except for Alfor. Melenor bought him enough time to find new paladins, send the lions away, and save his daughter." The altean glanced at the blue lion.

"You're missing the most important part-"

"You mean the part where your kind slaughtered my people and destroyed my homeworld?! Or the part where your _emperor_ betrayed the other paladins?!" Krolia looked between them in concern. Relas rolled his eyes at the altean.

"No. The part where one of my people worked with your king. Marmora." The altean man paused, listening. "She turned against her emperor and chose to hide the red lion away rather than give it to the empire. She fought against her own people because she saw what Zarkon was doing was wrong.

"I'm sorry for what happened then. But do not mistake me for one of those that... I'm not among them. I'm a member of the Blade of Marmora. An organization dedicated to taking down the empire and restoring what was lost in this war."

"A rebellion..." Krolia breathed. He nodded.

"I wasn't aware she sparked a rebellion." The altean sat carefully, helping him clean the wound on her cheek. Relas chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Well, not just her. The remaining enchanters weren't please that Haggar replaced them with druids and they began making luxite blades for any galra who would fight the empire. Commander Yurak saw that they needed to be more organized and stealthy, so... Here we are. Yurak and Marmora may not be around anymore, but Kolivan is a great leader."

The altean nodded. "I'm Dorintus, by the way. Since I know that you're Krolia and... Relas was it?" They nodded.

"So why did you come to Earth?" Krolia asked. "Why did you crash?"

"Another Galra and I were sent to see if the blue lion was here. I had to... _deal with him_ before he could report back to commander Sendak that we'd found the lion. Apparently people don't take to kindly to getting betrayed."

"Ain't that the bitch."

"Pain in my ass, for sure." He looked over the cut. It certainly could be worse. "Now I'm stuck here until I either build a ship or someone else comes looking."

"Couldn't you stay?"

Oh, how badly he wanted to say yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the last part of this chapter is a bit of a mess but I wanted to bring in the blue paladin eventually, and it'd make sense that he's protecting the lion. Even if he's a grandpa.


	3. Humans are truely strange creatures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relas realizes he's fallen for Krolia. He doesn't know how to deal with that information.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suddenly got hit with the inspiration stick, so I'm starting chapters for multiple different fics. Will i finish them today? No.  
> Will I finish them before the RTA finale kills me? We shall see.
> 
>  ~~ACCIDENTALLY HIT PUBLISH INSTEAD OF EDIT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~~ I actually finished the chapter early so there.

Dorintus was staring at him. Maybe he thought Relas looked ridiculous, sitting on the couch. Maybe he thought it was weird how much he was doting on Krolia. Personally, he felt he had good reason.

She'd been shaking when they walked out of the cave. She was still bleeding too, and she only just seemed to notice how much pain she was in. She kept saying she was alright, but Relas wasn't convinced. Sure, he'd seen other galra soldiers ignore their pain, even block it out. But to outright not feel it?

"Strange aren't they?"

"Huh?" He blinked and looked at the altean. Dorintus smiled and nodded towards the kitchen where Krolia was applying bandages and making them drinks. (On another note, he hoped it wasn't lemonade. He didn't care for drinks that bit back.) "Humans. They're very different from us. Perhaps from any known species."

Relas quirked his brow. He didn't follow. Dorintus smiled and shook his head. "You haven't noticed then. They get attatched to the strangest things. There's even stories of their people mourning robots they sent into space. And they intentionally put themselves in danger for fun sometimes. They also make homes in places with extremely different environments, and complain when the weather isn't agreeable yet most remain in the places. I mean, there are some that live in really cold places, and out here it gets hot enough to melt plastic."

With everything Dorintus added to his list, Relas wasn't sure if he should be impressed, terrified or worried. "The most fascinating thing I've seen is hysterical strength. Watched a young boy lift a car off his mother long enough for people to drag her out to safety. Cracked his teeth from clenching his jaw too." That did not help. "Actually, I think that may be how Krolia was able to save you. Not only are you bigger than her, your bones are denser. No human should normally be able to-"

He stopped as Krolia walked in with three cups. "Okay, I know Relas isn't a fan of lemonade, but I wasn't-"

"I do not like it."

"Good. I made tea." She set the glasses down before them. Relas stared at the cup for a moment before he looked up at her. "What?"

"You humans are terrifying." She burst into a fit of slightly nervous laughter. "I'm serious! Food and drinks that bite back, intentionally putting yourselves in danger "for fun", and this... Hysterical strength, you called it?"

She genuinely laughed this time. "Yeah, I guess when you put it that way. Especially "food that bites back" cause I don't think I've heard that one before. And not all of us are adrenaline junkies." She waved it off. Relas stared at her for a long moment. Being the only human he'd ever encountered, he though she would explain things to her, but apparently not.

"So, how long have you been on Earth, Dori?"

"Dor- nevermind. I guess I've been here for... 10,000 years, give or take? Granted I've only been awake for about 39 years so far." Krolia stared at him wide eyed. "I'm grateful us alteans have such long lifespans. Otherwise I may not live to see my grandchildren grow up. And that we're shapeshifters. Makes it easier to hide among...humans... Sorry Relas. It must not be easy, being confined here."

Relas shrugged. It wasn't that bad. For starters, he didn't feel like he had to constantly be on guard. And he genuinely liked the person he was spending time with. She'd already explained what would happen if other humans found him, and he much preferred living with Krolia.

"How long will you be staying?"

"I don't know..." He answered honestly, glancing at Krolia who frowned at her drink. "I don't have a ship anymore and I can't build one. It took a week to make a sensor, and I've been trained to be able to do that."

Dorintus nodded. "So you'll be waiting for the next group of your people to come here for the blue lion." _And hoping they don't._ He decided not to add that out loud. Then the thought hit him.

 _Why was he hoping they didn't come?_ He was oddly afraid to learn the answer.

* * *

Relas wasn't sure how he felt about morning Krolia. Morning Krolia drank coffee, and stumbled around a lot. The thing he disliked the most was something he'd only just found out about. Literally.

He was sitting at the table, fiddling with the sensor, when it happened. Krolia sidestepped and there was a loud crack. He jumped and turned to look at her. She was acting as though nothing happened.

"What the _quiznak_ was that?!"

"Huh? Oh." She thought about it for a moment. "I think it was my hip. Don't worry about it." His ear twitched. She couldn't be serious.

"That explains literally nothing."

"It just does that sometimes. My thumbs and neck too. Watch." She held up her thumb and flexed it a few times. It cracked loudly and he jumped again. She chuckled softly and turned back to her breakfast. "You act like you haven't seen that before."

"Because I haven't?"

She paused. "Huh. Well, I assure you, it's nothing to worry about." That was good at least. He had enough about humans to worry about. He relaxed and tried to remember what he'd been doing when there was another crack. His head whiped around to look at her.

"That felt better." He stared. "That time it was my neck." She explained and set a plate of food in front of him. He continued to stare. She let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "Again, I assure you that it's normal. It's just the compression of nitrogen bubbles and gas being released from the joints. I guess they're only naturally occuring in humans if you really haven't heard it before." She thought for a moment. "Oh, it could also be tendons rubbing against the bone."

He blinked at her before returning his attention to the sensor. She was quiet for a long time before sighing. "Alright, well, I'm gonna finish eating and head to work."

* * *

_"You seem distracted."_

"I'd prefer you used common when speaking to me." He didn't even glance towards the altean. They'd been trying to convert the sensor to a deep space radio all day, but the technology was limited, and he had to keep taking Krolia's things away from Dorintus before he tried to use them.

"Spoil sport. I like being able to use my native tongue. Not many Galra would know it, and humans definitely don't. Though I'd say Spanish is similar in some ways." He pouted slightly before looking Relas over. "Though, my previous statement still stands. You seem distracted."

Relas sighed. He'd thought he'd been hiding it better. "I just... Humans are so different from every species I've encountered, and it's so hard not to worry, even if Krolia says something is normal. I don't even know what I'd do if something happened to her..."

Dorintus was smiling at him. "Is it that you're worried about how you'd help a human? Or how to help Krolia?"

"Krolia is the only human I know."

"That doesn't answer my question." Relas paused. "Would you care if it were any other human? Or is just the idea of _Krolia_ being hurt that worries you?"

 _Oh._ He hadn't thought about it like that, but Dorintus posed an interesting question. Would he care if it were any other human? Probably not. But he didn't personally know any other humans. But he also probably wouldn't care if he did know them if his track record was any indication.

He stared at the table for a long beat, his thoughts filling the silence.

Krolia was the only person outside of his pack that he would care if they got hurt. She liked to touch him and be close to him, and he didn't mind so much anymore. In fact, he'd even felt compelled to hug her when she'd gotten home the day before. And his days felt overall better when she was around.

Dorintus chuckled. _"Funny how a human can worm their way into your heart, huh?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not end up finishing before that finale dropped. It was surprisingly hard to work on this while thinking about a show that I've been a dedicated fan of for close to a year ending.
> 
> Also, I really want to move on to the parts with Keith, but that's not easy when you also want to establish a romance. Let alone a romance between an alien and a human.


	4. Human emotions are complicated. Or maybe they just don't translate well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relas is unsure if he wants to act, but first he has to deal with an interesting situation: cheering up a heartbroken Krolia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually terrible about doing things consistently.  
> For example: this has been sitting in my drafts since March 6th.
> 
> I just really want to get to Keith. And I've never even seen a genuinely drunk person so this chapter may not be the best overall?

Something was wrong. Krolia should have been back hours ago, but the sun was down and her truck still hadn't appeared outside. Dorintus was still there, supposedly helping him, but he was playing one of those annoying games on his ~~data pad~~ _phone_ and being entirely unproductive. Relas huffed before his eyes were drawn to the darkened window.

"Is Krolia back?" The altean asked. "Or is she still a way out?"

"I don't know."

Dorintus smirked and leaned on his hand. "So your Spidey senses are tingling?"

Relas paused and looked at him bewildered. Yet another reference he didn't remotely understand. It was like the former paladin was teasing him. Dorintus kept grinning though and he shook it off, looking at the window again. "Do you sense a disturbance in the force?"

"What are you even-"

He stiffened as he heard the rumbling of Krolia's truck approaching. It should have been a great relief, but his fur was standing on end. Dorintus paused and went to the window, looking out. They both listened to her truck come to a stop outside and the door open. But then the other door opened and they heard someone fall and hit the ground.

Relas leapt behind the couch and hid as best he could. There was someone else there. And he could hear them talking. Krolia sounded louder than usual, and the other person seemed to be trying to calm her down.

"That's a terrible hiding place you know." Dorintus stared blankly at the couch.

"Shut up. Who's with her?"

"Some woman." Dorintus moved to the door and opened it. "Hello ma'am. I see you've brought Krolia home."

"Oh! I- ah, you wouldn't happen to be-" the woman started.

"Dori! My man! My main fishy bro!" Krolia belted. "How are you doing, man? Say, how you get your hair so white and soft? It looks like snow!" Dorintus shifted on his feet uncomfortably as Krolia reached out to pet his hair. Then she seemed to remember the alien hiding behind her couch. "Where's Relas? Relas! Relas! Get your giant ass out here and cuddle me!"

Relas decidedly did not go out to cuddle her. In fact, he darted to the nearest closet and almost shut the door. "Wha- was that him?"

"Relas is shy. We were doing a photoshoot a few hours ago, but I thought it'd be nice to wait for-"

"Dori! You have blue marks on your cheeks!" Krolia gasped. "They're so pretty!" _Blue?_ Relas had thought they were green. A dark green, sure, but green.

"Ah... Yes. She's noticed." Dorintus moved out of the other woman's way. "And Relas is purple at the moment. He'll probably be getting ready to bathe." Krolia started giggling. Obviously she found something absolutely hysterical.

The woman came inside and tried to drop Krolia on the couch. "That's too bad. I was hoping to meet him. Though it's a good thing you're here. That means you can give me a ride home. My husband must be worried sick about me. And I left him alone with Matt..."

"No!" Krolia drew out the word, "Colleen, don't leave me! You're the only person in the world that loves me..." Her whining dissolved into Japanese and she let herself hang off the woman's shoulders. "Colleen" sighed and rolled her eyes.

"She's like a giant toddler." She held her up a bit better by her waist. "Krolia, didn't you say you wanted to cuddle?" A nod. "Well, I don't think your friend Relas will want to cuddle if you're hanging off me like the cute little koala you are."

Kolia giggled more, but stiffened her legs so she could stand. She was still leaning heavily on the woman as she booped her nose (a strange thing she did that Relas would never understand) and smiled. "Aww, you think I'm cute."

Relas' eyes widened a but as he watched her press her lips to the woman's. There was a bit of tightness in his chest as well as shock. Kisses weren't just given out like that. Not for his people. Still, it happened. "I'm love you. You're a good one."

Krolia let go of her and swayed a bit before dancing off to her room, only tripping twice. Bepis beeped loudly at her once and she said "oopsy daisy" before making it to her room.

"And I thought Matt was a handfull... Stars, what would her kid be like?" A good question.

"Matt is your son?"

"Yeah. Only 3 and a half. He's smart too, but that only makes it worse." Colleen confirmed. "You have any kids?"

"A daughter. And three grandchildren." Dorintus said as he lead her out. He glanced at the closet for a moment before shutting the door. Relas cautiously pushed the door open with his claw before crawling out and swiveling his ears around. Dorintus' car, the creatures of the night... A soft whining from Krolia's room?

He shut the closet and headed that way. Apparently Krolia was the one whining. She was trapped in her shirt, which she was trying to get off without undoing any of the buttons. Actually, the entire scene was highly unusual for her. She was sitting on the floor, one leg out of her pants, the other tucked into the fabric still and her shoes still covering the foot that had been freed. The other shoe was just a few inches away.

"Uh-"

"Help" she mumbled through the shirt. He went over and gently helped her out of her shirt, then slipped her shoe off her other foot. She watched him with a dazed look on her face before she shifted to rest her head against him. "You're so nice to me."

He was quiet for a long moment. Her smell was wrong. Utterly and completely wrong. Underneath the wrongness, she was clearly still her, but... "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"I d'wanna." She huffed. She was acting like someone who'd had too much nunvil all at once. If it was even remotely similar, he could probably handle her. "Why doesn't anyone love me?"

"Wh-"

"I mean like Sam loves Colleen. He would like... Die for her. I think. He definitely fucks her." He decided not to pay too much attention to what she was saying. "I want someone like that. Maybe just to hold me for a while." She flopped onto her side, pouting as he started to pull the sheet over her. His hands paused, hovering for a moment. She glanced up at him.

 _I'm so weak,_ he thought as he turned off the light and slipped into bed with her. She snuggled up to his chest and muttered something before dozing off, snoring softly.

* * *

The house had never been so dark in the daytime before. Krolia had been insistent they keep it that way too. Whatever she'd had the night before, it's aftereffects were quite different from nunvil, which really just left a bad taste in your mouth and a bit of nausea. She had already thrown up, and complained about everything being too bright. What concerned Relas the most was the "pounding headache" she'd whines about before taking several painkillers and laying down on the couch.

She still hadn't put on anything more than an oversized shirt.

"Krolia-"

"Did I really kiss Colleen last night? Because I swear if I did I'll just kill myself right now." She finally said. 

His ears folded back and his brow furrowed. "Please don't." Krolia whined and hid her face. "I'm such a fucking idiot. One woman reveals just how straight she is and I turn into a giant fucking mess. And Colleen was supposed to stop me! Ugh, why won't whatever devine being I pissed off just come and kill me already? Enough with this torment..."

"What _exactly_ happened? I've never seen a reaction like this to anything besides nunvil, but...."

"Alcohol. Humans consume drinks that contains ethanol, which we call alcohol, sometimes for a variety of reasons that I don't feel like explaining." She mumbled into the couch. "And I only did it because I was upset that this chick I was totally into asked when I was getting a boyfriend so we could double date with her and her boyfriend. Which is like, not something you want to hear when you're having a lot of gay feelings for someone."

There was... _a lot_ to unpack there. For one thing, humans regularly consumed ethanol? Which was deadly to Alteans and really not good for Galra. And Krolia had consumed it because she was upset, which somehow came across as a bigger problem than she wanted him to know. And he had no idea what "gay feelings" were. He could start about anywhere, but he just couldn't for the life of him think of where.

Krolia seemed to make an assumption of what he was thinking. She huffed and rolled onto her side. "You don't have a problem with me liking women do you? I would hate to loose you as a friend."

She looked so sad as she said that. Her expression itself felt like a punch in the gut. "Why would I care if you like women? Who you like is your business. And I only care that you're alright." That made her smile. It was small, and didn't quite reach beyond her lips, but it was there along with a bit of relief in her eyes. "It's not uncommon to see that among a variety of different peoples. Though, I can't say many have a word for it."

"Wait, you guys don't have labels for your sexuality?" She sat up a bit. "But how do you tell people that you aren't attracted to their gender?"

"You don't? They don't need to know who or what you find attractive." The concept itself was baffling but... He was intrigued. Actually, it sounded like humans used these labels to find similar people. And it would certainly help for a few people he could think of, himself included. It was tiring, constantly telling people you weren't even remotely attracted to them.

He voiced his desire to learn more about it, and Krolia looked thankful for the distraction from her problems.

"Well, to start you have the straights and the gays. Those are the people who are only attracted to one gender. Straights are attracted to their opposites. So one man and one woman in their relationships. Always. Gays are the opposite." He nodded. It was pretty easy so far. "Lesbians are specifically gay women. And here's where it gets complicated..."

She continued to explain everything to the best of her ability, confessing that she herself was "bisexual", and tried to explain the difference between that, pan and poly. Relas didn't really get it.

Then she got to the asexual spectrum and Relas felt...something. It was when she explained "demisexual" that they had to pause. He hadn't meant to react at all, but he'd gasped ever so slightly and his eyes had widened.

"No way..." She turned her whole body to face him. "You're demi?"

"I... There was not really a word for it among any species. The few I met who were similar felt...broken. I struggled with it myself when I was coming out of kithood." He'd thought he was the only one for years, he added mentally. That humans had a word for it...

Krolia hugged him. "It's okay. You're not broken, just different."

He quirked a brow. "I didn't say I felt that way now. Still... I was more concerned with the ethanol consumption."

"Oh." She pulled away sheepishly. "Right. Then I didn't need to have this whole conversation with you, huh?" He rolled his eyes. "Well, it's nothing to worry about."

He was starting to hate that phrase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That ending was... Bleh. Anyways
> 
> People coming from my other fic may not be surprised to learn Krolia is bi. To those people, thank you for reading both.


	5. You're hosting an illegal alien despite working for the garrison?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krolia spends time with the Holts so Relas and Dorintus can have an "alien day"  
> She didn't account for them being quite _that_ curious.
> 
> Also, Krolia tries to explain soap operas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kroliachapterkroliachapterkroliachapterkroliach
> 
> I don't know why my brain made this.  
> Here's to picking up the pace so that Krolia and Relas can be a couple before chapter 7. There will be no slow burn in this house.
> 
> Also, chapter is pretty short, so that's why you got a sudden double update.

Krolia yawned. As nice as it was to visit her friend on the weekend like this, Mat was a bit exhausting. He'd already asked every question possible about her hair. Including why some of it was pink. And he kept asking how to spell her name because he was excited to practice the alphabet. He'd yet to get it right. He was actually getting frustrated with how many times he'd corrected it.

Children were cute, but she was so thankful she wasn't a mother. She did not have the endless patience Colleen and Sam seemed to have.

"Kolia? Did I get it right?" Matt asked her with a pout on his adorably chubby face. He gripped his magenta crayon tightly, nearly snapping it in half.

"Uh... Let me have a look." It said Kolai, and the K was backwards. He'd written the same thing the last five times. "Why don't you try drawing something instead? My name isn't that interesting."

He threw the crayon and put his head down. Sam sighed and got up to retrieve the crayon before someone stepped on it as she moved to rub the child's back. "Hey, it's okay, Matt. Krolia is a very hard name to spell."

"Harder to spell than Relas?" Colleen asked.

 _Curse you._ "Oh, uh I'm not sure." Why Colleen would even bring him up was a mystery. At least, Krolia wanted it to be. She'd shared about having a crush on him a while ago. And she'd already had an hour long rant about how hot she thought he was. That was supposed to have been a secret between her and Colleen.

"What's that? What's a relas, mama?" Matt asked, lifting his head to look at his mother. Krolia glared at the woman as she spoke up.

"The man living with Krolia."

"There's a man living with Krolia?" Sam chimed in. Colleen smiled innocently. "Yes, and Krolia _really_ likes him."

Friendship is dead.

"Colleen!" Krolia looked exacerbated. "That was between you and me!"

"Well if you'd let me actually meet him..." Colleen said as she sat on the floor next to her son and started doodling on a paper. They'd had this conversation a few times since "the incident" and every time the would just go around and around in circles. But now she had help.

"Wait, Krolia is living with someone, that she really likes, and I'm just now hearing about this?" Sam sat down across from them. "Why haven't I heard about this before?"

"I didn't think you'd be interested dear."

" _Colleen._ You know I can't talk about him casually." Matt stopped paying attention to them. He wanted to draw and he didn't understand what was going on, so he didn't care.

"Why not? You keep saying that but you never explain it."

"Well, you'd be cagey too if you were living with an illegal alien." Oops.

Her face went red as she stared at the table. She really hadn't meant to say anything. The more people that knew the more likely the garrison would find out. It could cost her everything. The silence that filled the room scared her. Probably as much as it was scaring Matt.

"Krolia." Colleen finally spoke up. "That is probably the stupidest thing you could have possibly done. Seriously? You know what could happen if the garrison found out what you're doing!" _You have no idea,_ Krolia bit back.

"No wonder you're so secretive. You must have a good reason for hiding him like that?" Sam asked hopefully.

"Well, he would have died without me, and he's really sweet despite not trusting almost anything when he's first introduced to it, and it's so cute how he lights up when he finds out he likes something, or the way his-" _ears fold_ "-nose scrunches up when he doesn't understand something, and he knew practically nothing about-" _Earth_ "-America when I first found him and-"

Colleen placed a hand on her shoulder, cutting off her racing mind. "It's okay. We get it. We won't tell anyone. Will we, Sam?"

"Not a soul." That made her feel a bit lighter. Yet there was the twisting in her gut from not telling them the whole truth.

* * *

Relas' crunching paused. Krolia knew it wasn't because he remembered he didn't like popcorn since he actually felt neutral about it. He was only snacking on it because she was. So she tilted her head to look at him. His brow was tightly knit as he glared at the TV.

"I don't understand." He frowned. If she took a shot every time he said that, she'd probably have destroyed her liver. "Why are they avoiding each other? I thought they liked each other? You said they did. And who is this other man she's spending so much time with?"

"Oh come on, are you not paying attention? That guy's Jeremy, and he's the rich dude trying to marry her. Though I bet the twist will be he's actually like... Her long lost brother or something ridiculous like that. It always is." She rolled her eyes. These shows were so bad, but she couldn't stop watching. "And they're avoiding each other because, even though they like each other, her family would never approve of her dating below their social status and he'd be risking everything to be with her."

"How would he be risking everything?"

"Well, he's actually a prince from another country, but he went into hiding because people were trying to kill him, and she took him in because she thought he really needed a job and a place to stay because he was hiding on the streets. So, if he tries to persue a relationship with her and she doesn't like him, then she could kick him out."

That didn't seem to be helping at all. Relas looked bewildered. "But she does like him...?"

"But he doesn't know that!"

"Why is this show so complicated?! It's like 'Juniberries in the Wind' all over again!" He threw his hands up in the air then sank further into the couch. She giggled and shook her head at him. He pouted at her. She could feel his eyes on her as she went back to watching.

"Why does he even need to hide if he's a prince anyway? Couldn't he just hire a bodyguard or something?"

"Just watch," she laughed, trying to get him to stop.

"But I don't get it!"

"Well, what if you were in his situation? It's already similar enough. If you were in love with me, would you find it so easy to just risk everything by telling me?" _In your dreams, Krolia. He could never like you like that._

Relas was silent now. "I mean, and it's worse for you because I could turn you in to the garrison and they could take you away. Do lord knows what to you too. I mean, obviously there's always going to be a risk. But you'd probably do the exact same thing in his-"

He cut her off by gently cupping her cheek. Her breath hitched as his claws lightly brushed her temple and ear. He used the slightest pressure to get her to face him. Her face felt impossibly warm as she stared into those lilac eyes that practically glowed in the low light of the room. His eyes looked so much larger than she'd ever seen before as he stared her in the eye.

She felt almost weightless as he slowly blinked at her and leaned in. When he kissed her, it was so different from what she expected. She thought it'd be like kissing someone with a full beard, but his fur was so soft and didn't tickle nearly as much.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she kissed back before he could pull away. Yet that only stopped him for a moment.

"Not much like him now, am I?"

She tried to hum, but instead what came out was closer to a honk. He blinked at her a few times. Honestly, no one would have known how to respond to that.

Krolia silently moved the bowl of popcorn to the coffee table without breaking eye contact. The bowl had barely made it out of her hand when she rushed towards him, cupping his fuzzy cheeks as she kissed him. It was so cliche. So ridiculous. She loved it.

And Relas didn't fight it. She pushed him to lay back and he let her. He even held her head in place with one hand as the other found the small of her back. It wasn't even a comfortable position for either of them, her hip twisted painfully and him curling awkwardly on the couch because he was too tall for it.

He pulled away again, trying to shift her with his legs. "As nice as it is to know how you feel, and to kiss you, perhaps here isn't the best place.

"Yeah." She let out a breathy laugh. Then she but her lip and giggled.

"What?"

"We're just like one of those shows." He was starting to smile. Then they both started laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in two hours while my brother was trying to fix the dryer. At three am.
> 
> Also, who wants to see the space drama based on Krolia and Relas' life where there's twice the drama, it's not as comedic and Kolivan shows up immediately after they confess and reveals he's been in love with Relas for years? ~~(He's not actually but shush)~~  
>  Guaranteed they would get a show if they pitched it to someone.
> 
> The alien twist would draw an interesting crowd.


	6. When you start dating a human and start questioning things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relas and Krolia are finally dating, which is a whole new world for him. Since he's never dated anyone, let alone someone outside his species, he has to figure out how that works for both their species.
> 
> Lucky for him, Krolia is patient and thinks he's cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As someone who's been craving romance: no wonder I'm feeling so inspired right now.  
> Really wish I could cuddle my girlfriend, since I started this chapter on her birthday, but with everything going on...
> 
> Here's some self projecting

The beeping thing had to die. Relas decided that the moment he heard it's insistent beeping. He cracked open one eye to glare at it as Krolia stirred. Reaching over, trying not to crush her under his body, he blindly patted the annoyance until the button was pressed to silence it.

He reveled in the quiet for a moment before Krolia hummed softly. Her arms lightly squeezed his chest and he purred. Humans were touchy, and he'd learned to love that about them. Or, maybe it was just Krolia.

"Time 'a get up." She mumbled into his chest. Neither made a move to get up. In fact, she started to fall back to sleep almost immediately.

Then it started beeping again.

Relas did not want to mess with it again, choosing to hiss at it instead. Krolia rolled onto her back and turned it off. He whined at her as she sat up. She stretched, letting her shoulders pop loudly. "You... Are really cuddly when you're tired."

He huffed at her and burried his face. She chuckled to herself and kissed his cheek.

He heard her get up and pad across the room to her dresser. She mumbled something about giant purple cats as she got dressed. He knew he should get up with her. Eat breakfast with her. But the bed was warm and soft and it smelled like her.

"Wish I could stay, but I have work and Admiral Sanda would kick my ass if I was late."

"Sounds like my kind of woman," he teased. She threw an item of clothing at him. "You purple bastard." Her voice was light and playful.

He chuffed at her. It only took another moment for him to decide to get up. He grabbed the clothing item that had been thrown at him, grey sweatpants, and changed into them. They weren't long enough to completely cover his legs, but he didn't mind. Humans made their clothes to be comfortable (or fashionable, but he didn't care for clothes like that) and he liked that.

"Hey Krolia?" She hummed from the bathroom, busy with her morning routine.

"I think crashing on earth may have been the best thing to ever happen to me." She peeked around the open door, toothbrush still in her mouth. "I just... For the first time in my life I'm not overwhelmed by the ammount of quintessence in the air, and humans don't live for the glory of the empire so I can relax... I..."

"Quinteshen?"

She wouldn't know about that. Right. He'd forgotten. "Um... It's basically the energy all life in the universe runs on. The empire has been stealing it and putting it into a form their soldiers can use. It... Well, you'd know if one used it a lot. It turns their eyes yellow. Completely. Not like the natural-"

Krolia had a finger pressed to his lips. Then she went back to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth. "You said it's overwhelming." She said when she was finished.

"Yes... I have a minor sensitivity to it." She looked at him for an explanation. "There has to be quite a bit more in an area than is normal for me to notice."

She nodded and headed towards the kitchen. "I think I get it. Or... Not really. But I'm glad that it's not bothering you here."

He took his time to finish getting ready for the day. She wouldn't want him hovering in the kitchen since he was bound to distract her. He hadn't understood that about others until now. It didn't seem like such a bad thing now.

* * *

"Hey, Dorintus?"

"Hmm?" The altean didn't even look up from his game.

"I was wondering why I can't sense the blue lion." That got his attention. "I mean, the red lion was so overwhelming. I couldn't even concentrate enough to move, and it felt like my bones had turned to fire, but the blue lion doesn't even feel like it's here until I'm right at the particle barrier." Relas stared across the cave at the blue lion. He hadn't even thought about it until he'd told Krolia about his sensitivity.

"Wait, new information. The gal- empire has the red lion?" He nodded without looking at him. "And it's your fault?"

His ears drooped. It wasn't like he meant to, it just happened....

_The planet hadn't seemed like a good place to hide something as important as the red lion. The surface temperature was so high where the sun hit that it couldn't sustain life, and the opposite side was too cold. Why the druids had thought it was the right place to go, no one could say._

_Yet when they drew close enough to the planet, he felt drawn to it. Like a moth to the flame._

_The other glara he flew with shouted at him, demanding answers, but the druid that sat behind him remained silent. Not that he would have heard either of them. He was so entranced that he barely even noticed the heat of the cave or the motlen rock churning far below him as he crossed the narrow bridge to her. Her large yellow eyes seemed to follow him right up to the barrier._

_Not you, he felt her say in his head. Yet he didn't understand. Why had she called for him?_

_Before he knew it, the druid was ordering them to take the lion back to the ship. The whole experience had left him dizzy, a feeling he wasn't familiar with._

Blue didn't feel like that. She was so muted in her pool of water, as if she wasn't even there. Like the gentle trickle of water in a forest full of life.

"Red...called to you? That doesn't seem like her." Dorintus mumbled. "What do you think blue?"

Relas could feel the slight shift. It wasn't much, a slight pressure really. But it was enough for him to know how blue felt. It was like water on the verge of freezing. Then it was gone. "Was... Was that-"

"I suppose..." Dorintus turned back to Relas. "The lions can supress their quintessence a bit, to keep the wrong people from finding them. Perhaps Red thought you were her paladin. Honestly, who's to say with that lion?"

Relas got the weird feeling that Blue was scolding the former paladin. He looked sheepish for a moment and cleared his throat. "Right," he fiddled with one of the parts, "well, how about we see if we can get this radio to work."

They pieced it together and...

Not even static came out. Relas growled softly. It was no different from all the other times he'd tried. He didn't even know why he still tried. _Why was he making it in the first place?_

"Maybe we should stop for today." That sounded like a good plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, also, [I made a doodle sheet of Relas because I was finally thinking about it.](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/595128882689081344/693394828582453298/Relas_doodles.jpeg) Krolia is there too. And his blade!
> 
> I tried to pull in as much from "tex's" design as I could, but considering he's a galra here it doesn't stand out much. Plus, I straight up hate that man's design. Don't know why.


	7. Krolia says fuck work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author deals with allergy season during quarantine. Krolia is the unfortunate subject of their wrath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With them together I'm trying to resist the urge to just  
> Skip to the parts with Keith.
> 
> Especially since I have pretty clear scenes planned out. For now, I will write whatever I can come up with.

That morning definitely was not a good morning. Sure, Krolia was laying comfortably in Relas' arms, but it was not good.

It all started with the insistent chirping of her alarm. She probably would have gotten rid of it for Relas' sake if she didn't need it for work. The beeping just hit different that morning though. It made her ears ring and a stabbing pain hit the top of her head.

She only felt slightly squashed when Relas reached over to snooze it. The silence, however, did nothing to stop the pounding headache, and she had a feeling that the reason it was hard to breath was not because her nose was buried in his chest fur.

_Well shit._

"Oh wait. Don't you have work?" Relas was at least coherent enough to think that.

"Fuck work." She mumbled, thoat sore. The headache had already decided she would not be opening her eyes any time soon. But her words seemed to catch Relas off guard. He shifted to get a look at her, rolling to his back and pulling her on top of himself. She could feel his eyes like purple and yellow daggers, but she refused to meet them.

The silence drew out for another moment. "Krolia," he started, "are you alright? You don't sound-"

She coughed. It didn't really help in any way, except her chest hurt now and Relas had gone still. _Is he even breathing?_ She glanced up at him through her hair. His ears were folded back and his eyes were wide. He blinked rapidly and shifted a bit more. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. This repeated a couple times.

The alarm started beeping again and the pain returned. She groaned and burried her face. It take another moment for Relas to reach over and turn it off. "Krolia..."

"I should call in..." She coughed. No effort was made to sit up or grab her phone. Relas started stroking her head and purring. The purring was especially confusing since neither one of them was content, but she didn't feel like asking.

She felt the cool glass of her phone slip under her fingers. "You said you should. So... Maybe actually do it?"

He earned a half-hearted grunt and an elbow digging into his chest, but she lifted herself enough to look at the screen. One quick call and a lot of coughing and she got the day off. Then she tossed her phone aside and put her head down. The purring continued and he started running his fingers through her hair.

"How bad is illness for humans? Will you need to go to a medical facility?" There was a twinge of worry in his voice. She decided not to let him worry too much.

"No hospital. I should be able to kick this in-" she was interrupted by a coughing fit. "-a day or two. That's a... Quintant, right?"

He studied her face as she rested her cheek on his chest to look at him. She sniffled. "Are you sure?"

She huffed at him. "This isn't even the first time I've been sick this year. I just need some medicine and rest."

"Right..."

He did not make a move to get up or even push her off his chest. She was starting to doze off again and she could feel it.

"Well if you aren't gonna get it, I'll just get it myself!" She said,a bit louder than intended. Her thoat screamed in agony for that. She twisted her body and put her feet on the floor before standing. Unfortunately, she forgot to account for a few things. The blood rushing to her head, the compromised balance and the muscle fatigue.

She almost immediately crumpled, Relas barely catching her before she landed painfully. He gently tugged her back into bed and got up himself.

"No, I've got it, I just..." He thought about his next words carefully. "I'm not entirely sure what to do..."

That...actually made sense. He wasn't human. He'd only been on earth for three months and it was painfully obvious how out of his element he was.

"Just... In the, um... It's in the bathroom. The Dayquil. Or is it Nyquil? I know i have one of those..." She mumbled as he walked out of the room. One advantage to living with an alien at least was that he had excellent hearing so she didn't have to repeat herself.

He came back a moment later with water and the medicine. "Medicine cabinet."

She snapped and pointed. "That's the one." Advantage two, he understood if she forgot a word in English. He may not always know what she meant or what she forgot, but he got the forgetting part. He'd done it several times already, once being when he'd misplaced his knife and wanted to know where it was. "Sharp pointy thing" may have perfectly described it, but it was still an experience.

* * *

"Relas?" He hummed. "What's it like when galra get sick?"

He was quiet for a long moment. "Well... We don't really get sick often. And when we do it's...not great." Krolia waited for him to continue. "Interplanetary relations make it worse, since other planets often has diseases that we have no way of combating. I doubt even a human would have a good enough immune system to handle that."

"Hmm... So maybe we shouldn't be cuddling on my couch watching movies." She sniffed. He didn't respond. "Well what if you get sick?"

"I'm not worried."

"Well why not?" He smiled at her.

"Because I'll have you." Her cheeks weren't red because of the fever anymore. She buried her face in her blanket and turned her attention back to the laptop.

Krolia hadn't been paying attention to it before. Not really. Relas had been using her Netflix more than she had and had picked up a lot of older shows that hadn't really appealed to her before. So many were from before the war, and she never had the time to really dive into any of them.

The one he was showing her now was newer than his usuals, depicting a human lost in space and under the protection of their alien companion. It was no wonder it had caught his attention though, seeing as he could relate to the human.

"That alien looks oddly like a Perthian. Strange race that one. They don't really act like this guy, they're more... Well, they like to lay on hot rocks and burrie themselves in sand. Annoying if you're trying to take a sand bath." He mumbled to himself. "And they like to steal your boots."

If she didn't feel like crap, Krolia would have wished she got more sick days to spend with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out My Space Family for the original idea for this AU!
> 
> Shameless plug out of the way, I hope you enjoyed and that my writing isn't an incoherent mess.


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